


Unbeatable Love I Surely Have

by Darkrealmist



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Genre: Acceptance, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Advice, Affection, Affectionate Insults, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anime, Asian Character(s), Awkward Conversations, Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Tension, Awkwardness, Background Het, Background Poly, Bad Flirting, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Battle, Belonging, Best Friends, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Character of Color, Bisexual Male Character, Bittersweet, Blushing, Bonding, Boys Being Boys, Boys In Love, Boys Will Be Boys, Boys' Love, Bromance, Bromance to Romance, Budding Love, Canon Backstory, Canon Character of Color, Canon Het Relationship, Canon Relationships, Character(s) of Color, Chibi, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Children, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Coming of Age, Compare and Contrast, Computers, Confessions, Conversations, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crushes, Cute, Cute Kids, Declarations Of Love, Despair, Devotion, Dimension Travel, Disguise, Double Entendre, Doubt, Drama, Drama & Romance, During Canon, Elementary School, Embarrassment, Emotional, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Empathy, Endearments, Enemies, Epic Battles, Episode Related, Explanations, F/M, Falling In Love, False Identity, Fanfiction, Fanservice, Fantasy, Fear, Feelings, Feels, Female Character of Color, Female Protagonist, Ficlet, Final Battle, Flashbacks, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluffy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Goodbyes, Growing Up, Guilt, Happy, Happy Ending, Having Faith, Heartache, Hearts, Heroes & Heroines, Het and Slash, Hobbies, Holding Hands, Hope, Hope vs. Despair, Hopeful Ending, Hot Springs & Onsen, Humiliation, Identity Reveal, Imagination, In-Jokes, Innocence, Inspired by Her (2013), Inspired by Music, Internet, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Japanese Character(s), LGBTQ Character of Color, Laughter, Loneliness, Love, Love Confessions, Love Stories, Love Triangles, Loyalty, M/M, Machines, Mad Scientists, Male Antagonist, Male Bonding, Male Character of Color, Male Protagonist, Male Slash, Mental Anguish, Meta, Minor Canonical Character(s), Minor Character(s), Mischief, Moving On, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Multiple Partners, Multiple Relationships, Nervousness, Nostalgia, Not Actually Unrequited Love, OTP Feels, Oblivious, One Shot, One True Pairing, One-Sided Attraction, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Pain, Parallel Universes, Pick-Up Lines, Pining, Post-War, Pre-Slash, Pulp Science Fiction, Puns & Word Play, Queer Youth, Rare Characters, Rare Pairings, Reading, References to Canon, Relationship Advice, Relationship Discussions, Relationship Issues, Relationship Problems, Reminiscing, Returning Home, Reunions, Revelations, Robot/Human Relationships, Robotics, Robots, Rockman X4 | Mega Man X4, Romance, Romantic Angst, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Gestures, Sappy, Sappy Ending, Saving the World, Schoolboys, Science, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Secret Admirer, Secret Crush, Secret Identity, Secrets, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Shame, Shock, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Shounen-ai, Simulacra, Situational Humiliation, Slash, Some Humor, Song Lyrics, Speculation, Substitution, Surprises, Sweet, Team, Team Feels, Team Fluff, Teasing, Technology, Tension, Third Wheels, True Love, Understanding, Unexpected Visitors, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, Urban Fantasy, Villains, War, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Weirdness, Wordcount: 100-1.000, Wordcount: 500-1.000, Wordcount: Under 10.000, World Domination, Worry, Young Love, transfer student
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-05-28 16:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19398316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkrealmist/pseuds/Darkrealmist
Summary: Upon returning from Beyondard, Hikari Netto reminisces about Iris on the school rooftop. Hikawa Tohru keeps him company.





	Unbeatable Love I Surely Have

Unbeatable Love I Surely Have

Author’s Note: Set immediately after episode 25 of _Beast_. Titled after the opening theme song from _Rockman X4_ , wherein the original Iris makes her first appearance. Enjoy the story and R&R.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or of the Rockman EXE series.

Pairing: Netto/Tohru/Iris triangle. Referenced one-sided (canon) Tohru x Iris.

Summary:

Upon returning from Beyondard, Hikari Netto reminisces about Iris on the school rooftop. Hikawa Tohru keeps him company.

* * *

“Thought you might be here.”

Hikari Netto withdrew out of his chest. Unconsciously, he reached for his tenantless PET, forgetting he’d sent Rockman off on assignment to Higureya as he needed some Battle Chips and some space.

Hikawa Tohru sat down a slim distance away on the school rooftop, an informal but appreciated substitute.

The very rooftop where they had their first heart-to-heart with _her_.

“Meiru-chan said you miss Iris-chan.”

They’d beaten Dr. Wily, ended the war in Beyondard, and come home heroes, but two members fewer. Night hadn’t even set in when Netto stumbled apathetically up the stairwell.

“Did Meiru-chan tell you?” he asked him. “Iris isn’t human.”

“What? What do you mean? She transferred into your class! We hung out!”

“That was a Copyroid.”

“Iris-chan was a _NetNavi_?”

“Yeah. She’s unlike any girl I ever met.”

“In that she wasn’t a girl at all?”

Netto didn’t have to confess. His feelings were written all over his face.

“Leave it to you to fall in love with a robot!” Tohru read a column describing human-NetNavi romance in a magazine once. The article was purely speculative, and never in a million years did he believe it could actually happen.

Iris and Trill weren’t the exclusive preoccupations plaguing Netto’s psyche. Guy talk with Tohru. He missed it also.

“Who came running with Dekao and the boys in my homeroom the day she showed up?”

A tract of crimson marked Tohru’s guilty mug.

“It’s okay…” The older sympathized. “She really was something. I didn’t even realize I cared this much until we got back, now that she’s gone.”

Attempting to cheer him up, Tohru half-humouredly paralleled, “I’m also unlike any girl you’ve ever met.”

Netto laughed a genuine laugh, then accused, “Smooth, Tohru-kun. You’ve been taking pointers from Anetta?”

“Don’t make fun of me! I haven’t had any practice!”

 _Because who couldn’t refuse an onsen nut?_ he giggled to himself.

“And I wasn’t totally joking…”

“About?”

“I, I like y –”

Warm cheeks. Thorny speech. Overlapping their hands. The evidence was adding up.

“T-Tohru-kun! W-we were both angling for Iris a second ago!”

Owing to the new information, Netto’s clear image of Tohru acquired a fuzzier focus, not so different than his perspective on Iris changing as soon as he left Beyondard.

And he thought he had problems! Try finding out the mysterious, fair-skinned beauty you longed after was an alien Repliroid from another dimension _and_ crushing on your best friend just the same!

“Truth is, I’m scared. It’s dizzying.”

“I can only imagine.” Netto laid his head on Tohru’s knees.

“You’re not sickened by me?”

“Why? I can make room in here.” He pointed at his heart.

Regardless of how they felt, this uncertainty, though daunting, rang worthwhile. They’d give each other the strength to overcome loneliness.

“What about Iris-chan?”

“We’ll see her again someday! And Trill too! I’m positive!”


End file.
